control systems

...in the late 1960s, digital computers quickly became popular elements of industrial-plant-control systems. Computers are applied to industrial control problems in three ways: for supervisory or optimizing control; direct digital control; and hierarchy control.

telemetry

The original telemetry systems were termed supervisory because they were used to monitor electric power distribution. In the first such system, installed in Chicago in 1912, telephone lines were used for transmitting data on the operation of a number of electric-power plants to a central office. Such systems spread to other fields besides power networks and underwent extensive improvements,...